Jason Kantor had lived peacefully in Belmont Shore for 30 years, and then an investor bought the home next door and turned it into an Airbnb.

“It’s been hellacious,” he said. “The entire summer was basically coming home after work and having a revolving fraternity house living next to me.”

Kantor recounted his recent experience with regular parties and rowdy tenants to the Long Beach City Council on Tuesday night, amid a discussion on allowing short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, to operate in Long Beach.

Short-term rentals are not permitted under the city’s municipal code, but that hasn’t stopped more than 1,100 listings from popping up on various home-sharing sites. The local law does allow for rooms to be rented, but the owner must live in the unit.

Kantor is among a growing number of residents who would like to see these services banned, but others in the same neighborhood say they’re happy to make a little extra money renting out a room or entire unit during the bustling summer months.

And with the Toyota Grand Prix — one of Long Beach’s biggest events — on the horizon, dozens of listings offer visitors access to downtown nightlife and sweeping views of the Grand Prix track “right from the windows.”

The largest purveyor of these units is Airbnb, which offers more than 3 million listings around the world, ranging from castles to small apartments.

Rentals popular during events

Numbers provided by a company representative suggest an uptick in usage in Long Beach during high-profile events.

During the 2016 Grand Prix in April, the site recorded 699 guest arrivals, a 20 percent jump over the week prior. And in May, during the week leading up to Long Beach Pride, arrivals increased 32 percent over the week prior, for a total of 893 guests.

The company estimates that over the course of those two weeks, Airbnb hosts made a combined $580,000. An income report released by Airbnb this month shows Los Angeles homeowners made more income than hosts in all other California cities, bringing in a whopping $262 million in 2016.

Airbnb promotes its business model as a money-making tool for everyday homeowners, but local governments in Southern California and across the nation grappling with the growing industry have responded by crafting new regulations or, in some cases, by banning the practice; cities restricting the industry include Seal Beach, Santa Monica and Hermosa Beach.

But with an economic renaissance underway, the city of Long Beach appears ready to embrace the shared economy. For example, it recently authorized ride-hailing services like Uber or Lyft at the Long Beach Airport, but officials remain wary about quality-of-life concerns they hear from residents.

“It’s great that Long Beach is and continues to be an attractive place for tourism, but we don’t want these positives that we have to create problems for our residents,” said Councilwoman Suzie Price, whose district includes oceanfront communities of Belmont Shore and Naples.

More information needed

It was Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce who thought Long Beach should look into the pros and cons of allowing short-term rentals, and create a policy governing them. Pearce introduced such an item to the City Council on Tuesday, not long after an affordable housing report revealed that 60 percent of residents are renters in a city with rising rents and a roughly 2 percent vacancy rate.

If owners are taking rentals off the long-term market, that could be adding to the housing crunch, she said.

“The pressure that’s placed on Long Beach’s already tight housing market by short-term rentals has begun to pose a challenge to our residents,” Pearce said. “If we don’t begin to look for a middle ground, even more families will be priced out of our city.”

Data from the tracking website Inside Airbnb shows an estimated 58 percent of available units consisted of entire homes or apartments, Pearce said.

Housing advocates, including Josh Butler of Housing Long Beach, would like to see a mandated fee imposed on all short-term rentals that goes into the city’s housing trust fund and could help fund the creation of more affordable housing.

Although it’s unclear how the Long Beach law might look, it could require hosts to pay lodging taxes, and undergo building inspections and safety checks. Right now, city staff is gathering information, and is expected to report their findings to the council in the next few months.

In a telephone interview, Airbnb deputy policy manager Connie Llanos said the company will provide information to Long Beach policymakers while City Hall works on a new law, but the company doesn’t lobby for any set of preferred regulations in cities discussing short-term rental policies.

“That looks differently in different cities because every city has unique needs,” she said.

Courtney Tompkins is a freelancer. Courtney previously covered Long Beach City Hall for the Press-Telegram and local government and education for the Pasadena Star-News and San Gabriel Valley Tribune. She is a graduate of Cal State Long Beach, where she studied journalism and international relations.